Red-eyed Crab Restaurant closes, owner cites staff and supply shortages

COMMERCIAL TOWNSHIP - “Potatoes,” said Michael LaSalle pinpointing the breaking point that prompted him to abruptly shut down his Red-eyed Crab restaurant.

“Food costs have been rising,” the owner/chef said. “And it’s the whole back-end of food, when you make potato salad now, eggs are four times what they should be, mayonnaise is three times what it should be, and the final straw for me, believe it or not, was potatoes.”

On his weekly shopping excursion, price hikes hit hard. He was digging deeper for frying oil, dairy items, and the butter for his steam pots.

“Potatoes were $48 for the box when they used to be $17,” he said.

Add that to his staffing shortages, and he said he was done.

LaSalle went home and vented his frustration in a July 20 Facebook post announcing the Red-eyed Crab was closed.

“Due to the outrageous food cost and trying to find qualified help down here it (is) just not happening,” LaSalle wrote. “I’m going to take some time to figure out a plan on moving forward because I truly love this business and what I do …”

He hopes the closure is temporary.

“I felt like it was a surrender simply because I got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore,” LaSalle said, sitting in the restaurant’s empty dining room on Thursday. The blackboard, usually filled with daily seafood specials, wiped clean.

His other critical issue is securing qualified kitchen staff.

“We make everything here, I don’t buy anything breaded,” he said. “We make all our side dishes and dressings.”

“I can’t do it all myself,” he said. “To keep the quality up, you have to have people.”

His battle reflects nationwide trends.

The National Restaurant Association’s State of the Restaurant Industry 2022 reports eateries are struggling.

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Although the restaurant industry added back 1.7 million jobs in 2021, the report noted 7 in 10 operators responded “they don’t have enough staff to support their current service demand.”

Recruiting and retaining staff is their top challenge for 2022, the report stated.

“In my area, it’s tough to find,” LaSalle said, citing his off-the-beaten path location in a community of fewer than 350 residents.

His job posting will get 4,000 online views but no follow throughs, he said. It’s so desperate he once appealed for friends to help as dishwashers.

The Red-eyed Crab closure dismayed many and disappointed diners who had plans to drop in.

His Facebook friends offered support and suggestions.

One recommended relocating the restaurant to Buena, where it might be easier to get supplies and find a kitchen crew.

“But it wouldn’t have this,” said LaSalle, waving his arm to take in the panoramic view of blue skies and the meandering Dividing Creek.

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Owning the Red-eyed Crab seemed to be his fate

“My mother was a banquet waitress at the Buena Vista County Club for years; I started doing dishes at 13,” said LaSalle, who grew up in Newfield. “I always loved the cooks in the kitchen with their big hats and chef jackets.”

By 18, he was manning the grill on the midnight shift at a Gloucester County diner. This was added to the culinary resume, as LaSalle worked in a succession of kitchens.

“Then I found this place,” he said, noting how he was drawn to it. “I loved it.

The lease for property, formerly known as the Lighthouse Restaurant, was drawn up, but he said the deal fell through.

LaSalle moved on and shifted his career to sales.

When he was looking to purchase small café and spotted the Red-eyed Crab property on Craigslist.

“I still had the lease contract in my files,” he said. “I ended up buying it.”

The property was worn, weathered and needed an overhaul.

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“It took four years to get like you see it now,” LaSalle said. He devoted nights, weekends, and his vacation time on the remodel.

Then LaSalle filled it with as much of the Delaware Bayshore history as possible, even including a curiosity or two from his collection, which includes a taxidermized eel.

At first, LaSalle thought he could lease the restaurant.

“Then the flame came back,; I wanted to get back in the kitchen,” he said.

Opening in 2018, the Red-eyed Crab soon was drawing crowds and serving 200 to 250 dinners on Saturday.

Lacking the foot traffic of beachfront towns, LaSalle focused on making the property a destination. On the plus side, he notes his customers don’t have to deal with shore-bound traffic backups along Port Norris’ Main Street.

He added the High Tide Marina, which remains open. There are plans for an antique shop.

“It’s a labor of love,” he said.

Will Red-eyed Crab be back?

“In all honesty, I haven’t made that decision yet,” LaSalle said. “If I can find the people I need and they have the same standards as I do, it’s not out of the cards.”

“I’m not a doom and gloom kind of guy,'' he said. "I’ve been a hard worker and can solve problems.''

“I put temporary on there,” he said, referring to Facebook rant announcing the closing, which he ended with, “It’s not over till it’s over !!!!”

This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Red-eyed Crab closes, as owner cites food costs, staffing shortages